Saturday, May 21, 2011

Frogs everywhere!

There has been a lot of frogs around lately. Every night we notice several frogs on the windows catching the insects.
This frog was discovered in the reclaimed potting mix.
It gave me a bit of a fright as reacted to being dumped out of a pot of dirt into the wheel barrow.
Pip said she thought it was a bull frog.

I have noticed quite a few large holes in the potting mix in some of my pots...I have concluded they are a result of a frog leaving it's hibernation hole. Perhaps the to-ing and fro-ing to market is not restful enough for them.


Mum has made them welcome with this bird bath in her garden.
They have also delighted the pottery children by leaping out of the fridge we keep  pottery in to regulate its drying.

The door of the fridge does not quite close and it is surprising the size of the frogs that squeeze their way in.
Please note the fridge is not turned on and no frogs have been harmed by sharing of our pottery space.
It is raining as I type this so the frogs will all be singing tonight

Monday, May 9, 2011

This is my most productive rocket circle. Mizuna has finished as has the cos lettuce. Can you see the cos lettuce that has gone to seed? 
The chooks have been moved to the next circle. They did have 3 weeks here and 3 bales of pea straw and one of lucerne. This circle is quite heavy clay so I was keen to add as much organic matter as possible. I am also continuing my doughnut contouring experiment. I have already planted Red French shallots, Red mustard and a few Silverbeets. Notice the hot house has been repaired. I have already filled it with trays of seedlings.
I can never get lonely in the garden as these two are never too far away. Who would have thought they would be looking for shade in May!

This would have to be my favourite vegetable plant in the garden. Red curly Kale.....tastes like cabbage. I just love the deep purple colour and it seems to trick the cabbage moth with it's colour. Unfortunately the white flies are not so easily fooled.
It should be high in antioxidants like most red coloured vegetables.
Remember the chrysanthemum that my sister gave me, I posted it a few weeks ago as full of promise...


It is a neat little plant and bursting with colour. I am picking the flowers for my bunches.
This whole row is blooming at the moment...Chrysanthemums are great value for cut flowers. Lets hope the trend of buying flowers at the market continues to grow.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Pottery and Mum's garden

 You might recall that the Pottery Club is using Mum's garage temporarily after our studio was demolished to make way for a swimming pool at the specialist school. While I was waiting for the children to arrive for their after school pottery class, I thought I would have a look around at what is flowering in Mum's garden at the moment.
The view from the pottery room is a sight at the moment with most of the saliva's lining the driveway, out in full bloom.
Lime light is a spectacular and unusual flower with lime green calyx's and summer sky blue petals.

The photos do not do the sight justice,maybe it was the time of day and the fading afternoon light.

 It certainly is a more beautiful setting than our last studio. Something more permanent will turn up soon, I just wish we could find a philanthropist to help with our cause.